WASHINGTON, DC — A record number of assisted living providers gathered here Monday to press their concerns about workforce shortages and seek help from federal lawmakers on key legislation.
The 2022 American Health Care Association / National Center for Assisted Living is hosting its first in-person fly-in since the pandemic started, giving operators an opportunity to share stories that might move the needle on additional federal relief funding or workforce strategies.
“We need to help them understand how these bills will help us make an impact in our building, to do what we do best, which is provide assisted living services for those in our community that want to live in assisted living,” NCAL Executive Director LaShuan Bethea told dozens of assisted living executives meeting just a block from the Capitol building complex Monday afternoon. “This is our opportunity to talk about the challenges we’re having in workforce, to talk about the fact that you’re not having people apply or they’re not showing up for the interview, or to talk about maybe some of the challenges you’re having with the staffing agencies double-booking or canceling last minute.”
Bethea estimated that approximately 150 of 500-plus attendees at the Congressional Briefing have assisted living ties.
Chief among the legislation Bethea and NCAL board member Rod Burkett asked members to raise in meetings on Capitol Hill was H.R. 7744, Building America’s Health Care Workforce Act, a bill that would extend by two years a waiver allowing temporary nurse aides longer to complete certification.
In addition, NCAL is urging passage of the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act, S. 1024 and H.R. 2255, which would allow employers to access immigration visas that went unissued in recent years for physicians, some nurses and other advanced clinicians.
“It’s probably no great surprise to anyone in the room that our ‘ask’ this year really revolves around the workforce theme,” Gardant Management Solutions CEO Burkett said, noting that about one in four assisted living workers were born outside the United States.
SB 1024 would allow would-be workers “to adjust their status so they can help our nation and help us continue to fight COVID and have durable immigration status,” he said. Although some immigration efforts — including new federal funding to work through a backlog of visa applications — have started to deliver foreign-born workers faster, alternative pathways to employment also remain important. The nurse aide bill would do that for a longer time by carrying a federal waiver that was set to sunset this week.
“Any additional CNAs we can pull out of a hat, scrape up here, there or everywhere, it’s going to be critical for us,” Burkett added.
But two lobbyists and former Hill staffers who spoke at the same panel cautioned that the time for Congress to act on any legislation this session is growing short. Lawmakers will adjourn for summer break at the end of July, and their fall return likely will be consumed by annual budget battles before members turn to campaigning for the next session. Amid the time crunch, Congress also is grappling with major national and international issues, including gun law reform and war in Ukraine.
Risk of more regulation low
That may turn out to be good news for assisted living providers, who have found themselves under increased scrutiny since they started receiving more federal financial assistance during COVID-19. Dan Farmer, principal at BJR Group, said that the divided focus makes the risk of more federal regulation for assisted living fairly low in this Congress.
“It’s hard to see a scenario between now and the end of this year where Congress would have enough time and thought to come together on a bipartisan regulatory structure in this arena,” he said.
If there is an appetite moving forward, additional regulation likely would come through bureaucratic efforts rather than policy reform, added Bob Russell, partner at Simmons & Russell.
Although the hopes of additional provider relief funding remain slim — a sense confirmed by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) at a separate session later in the day — some federal additional support for assisted living still could come in another form if providers do a good enough job of explaining this week and in coming months how crucial the Provider Relief Fund was to their operations and how deep the challenge remains.
“This isn’t a one-day project,” Burkett added, urging providers to use email and in-district visits to engage with their elected representatives. “It’s a yearlong program of connecting and building relationships.
The Congressional Briefing continues Tuesday.
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